1918/1920 Doubledate

Doubs · 10-02-2002, 10:41 PM

Mark, I'm afraid I have some rather unpleasant news. While your pistol may have "matching" numbers, the gun is made up of parts from two manufacturers. The barrel, receiver and frame are Erfurt while the toggle you show is DWM.

DWM did not stamp an inspector's mark on the front of the trigger guard as yours has been stamped; only Erfurt did that. The eagle stamp on the right side of the slide and the barrel are both Erfurt eagles. The DWM eagle is different. The inspector's stamp on the locking bolt (take down lever) is also an indication of an Erfurt part.

The Crown/RC stamp on your barrel and trigger guard are an indication of a part having failed an inspection for non-critical tolerances. The part still functions as required and a "Revisions Commission" has given the OK for the part to be used. The C/RC stamp means that any subsequent failure of the part won't be blamed on the normal inspectors. This stamp is found more frequently on Erfurt pistols than on DWM pistols and especially on 1917 and 1918 Erfurts.

As for the markings of "Pw.B.", I'm unable to help there. The lack of a period after the "P" tells me that the "Pw." should be read together and I can find no reference for that marking. IMO, the markings are from the post-war period and most likely indicate a police unit. It's also possible that it's a Weimar military unit marking but I lean more to the police than the military. Again, that's only my opinion.

Perhaps Jan can help you with this one.

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10-02-2002, 10:41 PM	#2
Doubs User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Byron, Georgia Posts: 1,742 Thanks: 826 Thanked 1,788 Times in 590 Posts	Mark, I'm afraid I have some rather unpleasant news. While your pistol may have "matching" numbers, the gun is made up of parts from two manufacturers. The barrel, receiver and frame are Erfurt while the toggle you show is DWM. DWM did not stamp an inspector's mark on the front of the trigger guard as yours has been stamped; only Erfurt did that. The eagle stamp on the right side of the slide and the barrel are both Erfurt eagles. The DWM eagle is different. The inspector's stamp on the locking bolt (take down lever) is also an indication of an Erfurt part. The Crown/RC stamp on your barrel and trigger guard are an indication of a part having failed an inspection for non-critical tolerances. The part still functions as required and a "Revisions Commission" has given the OK for the part to be used. The C/RC stamp means that any subsequent failure of the part won't be blamed on the normal inspectors. This stamp is found more frequently on Erfurt pistols than on DWM pistols and especially on 1917 and 1918 Erfurts. As for the markings of "Pw.B.", I'm unable to help there. The lack of a period after the "P" tells me that the "Pw." should be read together and I can find no reference for that marking. IMO, the markings are from the post-war period and most likely indicate a police unit. It's also possible that it's a Weimar military unit marking but I lean more to the police than the military. Again, that's only my opinion. Perhaps Jan can help you with this one.